We were three
by Dark Opal
Summary: Sonic, Sonia and Manic have been searching for their mother ever since they got together. Now, ten years later, Manic is dead and they find her, but at what costs can they get her back?
1. Found

A/N: This is my first Sonic Underground fic, so be nice. It's a kind of merge between SU and the SatAM series with more emphasis on the Sonic Underground characters and plotlines, but don't worry, Sally and everyone else is still there!

Squiggles (~) denote a flashback. Another one denotes the end of the flashback. Not that confusing and way better than using italics. Unless of course, you WANT to go blind. So, here goes…

Disclaimer: All characters in the Sonic Universe owned by Sega. 'Nuff said.

~

"Manic! Behind you!" 

"Got it," the green hedgehog replied. He spun around and leapt onto the robot so he sat on its shoulders. 

"Man, feel the beat!" he sang, drumming a loud beat onto the mechanical being's head then with one hard stroke, slammed the butt of his drumstick deep into it and somersaulted gracefully off as the robot exploded. 

"One down!" he yelled in exultation. He was about to go for another one when he heard Sonia scream. He whirled around and saw a robot holding her in its hand. The screaming hedgehog reached for her pendant... 

And with one ferocious swipe the robot ripped it off her neck. It fell to the dirt with a dull thud. The robot turned its attention back to the pink hedgehog. It slowly lifted its other hand, forming it into a gun. 

"SONIA!" Manic screamed in fear, just barely hearing Sonic yell the same thing. He heard a whir and his brother shout "Hold on, I'm coming!" 

Then there was a loud crunch. Manic turned at the noise, just quickly enough to see a robot spin around and catch Sonic squarely in the face with its steel arm. The blue hedgehog flew backwards and sprawled in the dirt, dizzy and confused. Manic turned to the robot holding his sister, a snarl growing on his face. 

"You are SO going to p-" 

He didn't even get to finish his sentence. 

A laser hit him from behind, tearing through flesh and lung. For a second time froze. Then the pain spread like wildfire through his whole body and he screamed in agony, his screams mingling with his siblings' ones of horror. He fell to the dirt, convulsing, his breaths ragged. He felt as if he was suffocating, unable to breathe. Every breath he took in immediately fled out through the hole in his lung. Sonia screamed again and kicked futilely against the robot holding her captive, gun still against the side of her head. 

"AHHHHHHHH!" 

With a furious cry Sonic zoomed towards the robot, hitting and punching and kicking, yelling at it to let his sister go. 

"Sonia..." Manic said weakly, attempting to sit up. He felt hot bile rising through his throat and he retched vomit and blood. He tried to take another breath and found he couldn't. He felt something hot run down his body and he looked down. 

"Blood?" he murmured in shock. He saw shiny mechanical feet in front of him. He glared up, a snarl rising in his throat. 

"Spawn of Aleena" Robotnik smirked, clad in a silver robotic suit of armor. "How're you today?" 

Manic spat, his blood staining the dirt a reddish brown. 

"Temper temper now" he said and, raising his foot back, kicked the green hedgehog with all the force of his hatred and anger behind it, the robotic suit adding to its power. Manic skidded in the dirt, the pain in his chest almost unbearable as rough sand and soil found their way into his chest. Eyes wide in agony he spurted blood out of his mouth with ragged coughs. 

"How's that now?" Robotnik taunted. Painfully, Manic attempted to get up. He sat in the dirt, on hand propping him up, the other hand clutching his wound, the blood getting all over his gloves and skin. 

"Bastard" he spat with difficulty. Robotnik stared then started to laugh. 

"Such insolence!" he laughed. "You still think you're going to win, don't you?" 

He gestured at Sonic and Sonia. "Look at them! You don't have a chance." 

Sonic was tugging desperately at the robot's hand, unable to break it and too afraid to simply blast it with his guitar in case he blasted Sonia along with it. Behind him, robots grabbed him by both his arms and he was forced off the robot, screaming in pure terror, kicking and squirming. 

"No... Sonic... Sonia..." Manic whispered. 

"How's that for you, hedgehog? Still believe in your precious freedom now?" Robotnik sneered. 

"No... don't..." Manic tried to shout. Pain ripped through his small body and he screamed silently at the sky, black clouding his vision. Robotnik grinned as he picked the green hedgehog up by the neck. 

"Feisty little thing" he chuckled. "Now, what to do with you..." 

He grinned evilly. "I wonder what kind of robot you would be like..." 

He turned to his robots. "Lets go" he commanded. 

"I'm NOT letting you take us alive Robotnik!" Sonic yelled defiantly, his voice trembling with fury with what Robotnik had done. Kicking hard, he managed to free himself. He tore towards Sonia and spun round and round the robot until he created a tornado of dirt. The next thing Manic saw was him releasing Sonia on the ground unconscious and the tornado dying down, along with a clatter of shattered robotic parts. Robotnik tightened his grip on Manic's neck and pressed a button. Huge metal wings spread out of his back and there was a roar as flames exploded out of the ends, lifting him and his hostage with a jerk into the sky. 

"No! Manic!" Sonic yelled, and Manic could hear the fear behind his voice. He heard the whir as Sonic tore towards the two. The blue hedgehog leapt wildly, desperately, swiping at Robotnik. He missed; the man had lifted beyond his reach. 

"You lose, hedgehog! You can't do anything now!" Robotnik laughed triumphantly. He changed his direction and started to head back north, the rocket wings on his back boosting them both along at a tremendous speed. Manic gasped in pain as he squirmed weakly against Robotnik's steel-hard grip against his neck and as the wind blasted through his wound. His head spun and he was going to faint. 

"Manic! MANIC!" he heard both siblings scream, and down below he could see a blue blur as Sonic ran faster than he ever had in his life, desperate, terrified, trying to save his brother. Robotnik cackled loudly. 

"Stop trying, it's such a futile attempt!" he laughed and with his free hand blasted something at Sonic. It opened up and the blue hedgehog tripped and sprawled, entangled in the net. Quickly, he tried a Sonic spin but found the net too thick and strong for his spikes to cut through.

"NO! MANIC!" he yelled, hot tears of fear and anguish streaming down his face as he tried to disentangle himself as quickly as he could, only succeeding in entangling himself further. 

"Sonic..." Manic whispered weakly, tears pouring down his face as everything went black. 

The last thought he had was how powerful Robotnik's creations had become, without any of them noticing it. 

Then he fainted.

~

There was a loud thunder of noise and the underground pipes shook. There was a whir as a piece of paper ran through the rickety old machine. A gloved white hand snatched it and scanned it quickly. His grip tightened.

"Here" Sonic said, giving the paper to his sister. She read it.

"Queen Aleena… seen in Robotnik's castle…" she sighed. "Sonic, you're not thinking of going, are you?"

"Come on Sonia, it could be true…"

"What's the point anymore?" Sonia asked, frustrated. "We've been getting these… how many times? More than we can count. How many of them have been hoaxes? Nearly all, and the ones that weren't… what's the point? We NEVER get her, and why? Not that we don't try. She runs away from us. Why are we wasting our time chasing a false hope? Let's just face it; she doesn't want us. There have been so many times she was right with us. Why didn't she join us then?"

Another piece of paper ran through and Sonic grabbed it again. He read it and started shaking.

"What?" Sonia asked.

"Manic…"

"What?" Sonia snatched the paper from his hands and scanned it quickly. She stared at it disbelievingly, going pale. She made her hands into fists, crumpling the paper.

"Who would play such a cruel joke?" she asked quietly.

"I don't think it's a joke" Sonic said, taking the paper from her hands. It read:

Sonic, Sonia,

We have seen your brother Manic. He is in the castle with your mother.

A short, simple message. It meant so much to the two. Sonia suddenly leapt up and tore the paper to shreds.

"Lies!" she shouted.

"Sonia…" Sonic said, trying to pacify his sister.

"How can someone do this to us? Keep raising our hopes like this, just to let them plummet back down?"

"We should go check it out"

"Why should we? It's a JOKE Sonic, a cruel joke played by some twisted person"

Sonic felt a pang of sorrow in his heart, and not for the first time felt how much he had been forced to mature in the past years. He put her arm on his sister's shoulder.

"But if it's true… imagine it. We would finally have our brother back. So what if it's another hoax? We have to see, don't we? What if Manic really is… alive? Can we just abandon him?"

"Yes we can dammit!" Sonia shouted. She put her head into her hands and started crying.

"He's not alive… how can he be… the robots… shot him… through the lung…"

"Yes, I know"

"He couldn't have survived that, Sonic! No one could!"

"Manic's a survivor"

"Yes, but NO ONE could have survived that. Not after Robotnik kicked him on the ground, not after he… oh god" Sonia cried. "Who could make such a cruel JOKE out of this?"

"It may not be a joke. Our brother may still be alive"

"No he's not, he's NOT!" Sonia screamed. Sonic waited for a while for her to calm down. It had been like that for years, and he had been forced to be sympathetic, to be patient, for his sister. They were the remaining two of the original three heirs. What else could he do?

"Oh god… it's been so long…"

"Yes, it has" he agreed softly.

"Ten years… TEN YEARS, Sonic! Ten years since that bastard killed our brother, and look at us now. We had it good, Sonic, really good, and we didn't even know about it. Look at us now. The freedom fighters have been reduced to four, including us. Everyone else has been caught and roboticized. Robotnik's ruined EVERYTHING, all our friends are either dead or slaves… he destroyed Knothole… that beautiful, beautiful village… Stripes…"

"We tried"

"But it wasn't enough, was it? We just kept trying and losing. Why do we even bother? Look at us now. We were three. We had fun, playing our music. Now what? We can't play our music or else robots'll catch us, we're living in a SEWER, too afraid to come out onto the surface and Manic… Manic…"

Sonic sighed. He sat on the floor next to his sister and gave her a hug. "You know what sis? You're right. We ARE only down to two, four if you include the other Freedom Fighters left, Tigra and Lenn. We ARE living in hard times. But you know what? It'll all be great again, you'll see. We just have to keep trying… we CAN'T give up! We're the only chance left, and if we get killed or roboticized, so what, we tried, right? And if Manic's actually alive, we can't just leave him there, can we? We can use all the help we can get. We have to keep trying, even if we keep failing, cuz one day we'll SUCCEED!"

Sonia started crying again. "its all my fault… all MY fault… if I hadn't been caught by that stupid robot, Manic would probably still be alive"

"It's not your fault…"

"Yes it is!" Sonia insisted. "He wouldn't have been distracted, he would have heard that robot coming up behind him, and he wouldn't have gotten shot. If you hadn't been trying to get me free from that robot you could have gotten to Robotnik faster and he wouldn't have been able to take off. How is that not my fault?"

"I could have run faster," Sonic said quietly. "I could have… but I didn't. As I ran after Robotnik when he was holding Manic, I don't know if I could have run any faster but somehow… I just felt I could, but my legs just wouldn't go any faster…"

"It's my fault…"

"Look, we're not going to get anything done by sitting here and saying whose fault it is! The fact is that someone SAW Manic AND our mom in the castle, and we have to go and try to save them. So come on, dry your eyes, we gotta go!"

Sonia sniffled. "Do… do you actually still think he's alive?"

"I'm positive" Sonic said firmly. He grabbed his skimpy backpack and walked through the ankle high water then crawled into a pipe that would take them outside.

"You're such a liar," Sonia whispered before following him.

When they got to the surface Sonic quickly whipped out his gas mask and strapped it on, putting one on his sister first. The air had become so polluted it was dangerous for them to breathe it for longer than ten seconds. One breath was enough to choke someone.

Hence the reason why anyone who had not been caught by Robotnik or killed by the robots had died anyway.

There was a loud clanging of noise and the two ducked behind a crate, watching silently as an army of robots patrolled by. Sonia could see her brother's hands clenched hard into fists by his side, his face furious, full of loathing and realized that she herself was doing exactly the same. When they passed Sonic turned around.

"Hold on" he whispered. Sonia nodded and clasped her hands around her brother's waist. Sonic closed his eyes and concentrated. There was a soft whir then he shot off so fast that Sonia would have flown off if she hadn't been holding on. Over the years, Sonic had learnt to run silently without the normal sound he made that the robots had come to listen for and shoot at. His feet moved so quickly at times even he felt as if they didn't touch the ground. Sonic made sure he didn't run into any robots; nowadays they were able to react and shoot extremely quickly, and he had almost been shot himself more times than he was comfortable with.

Sonia leapt silently off and rolled with the impact behind a building when they neared Robotnik's castle. Sonic ducked into a spin so he didn't make a screeching noise when he stopped. He waited until he had slowed down then stuck his legs out and crouched behind a high steel wall surrounding the towering castle.

After Robotnik had finally defeated the trio those ten years ago he had immediately started widening his empire. He sent robots to all parts of Mobius cutting down forests flat. When he had discovered Knothole he had sent robots down, even gone down with them. The Freedom Fighters hadn't even had a chance, and by the time Sonic and Sonia had found out it was too late. It was the same for Stripes' village; by the time they had gotten there it had been burned to the ground, all inhabitants gone.

When Robotnik had found the hidden castle of Queen Aleena he had been ecstatic. It had been torn down immediately and then rebuilt to make Robotnik's new fortress. It was easily the tallest structure in the whole of Mobius and also the most ominous. 

Sonia wanted to scream every time she saw it.

"Come on" Sonic whispered. The two sneaked closer to the castle. Sonia took out a laser beam the two had managed to ravage off a robot from their last encounter with one and made quick work of the six robots guarding the walls. Sonic took out a piece of scrap metal he had picked up before from his backpack and, putting all his speed and strength into it, hurled the thing at the robots guarding the doors, making it seem like it was coming at another direction. All the robots whirled around suddenly and fired their lasers, melting the metal.

"Attack, attack, attack" they chanted and marched to the direction from which the metal came from. When they were all gone Sonic grabbed Sonia by the waist. There was a whir as he started up, then he blasted as fast as he could at the wall of the castle, his feet barely touching the ground. He adjusted his weight when he hit the wall, accelerating so the force of gravity wouldn't pull him down. He ran up the wall silently, his sister in his arms and touched down neatly inside a room. Over the years Robotnik had gotten wise to the twins' attacks, and had probably placed a numerous amount of traps in front of the door. They had not tried any attacks for months now and Lenn had told them that they were presumed dead, but Sonic didn't want to take any chances.

Once inside they were able to take off their gas masks. Sonic put them both back in his backpack and the two headed to the dungeons. They knew the way; after all, they had been there so many times on so many failed missions.

"Careful!" Sonia hissed, pushing Sonic back against the wall as she spotted a security camera. She pulled out her laser and set the intensity down low then carefully shot the camera, just enough for it to go offline. They quickly made their way down the stairs to the dungeons.

"Robotnik's sure done a hell of a job in redecoration," Sonic whispered. Sonia nodded, staring at the grotesque pictures of himself hanging on the walls. She didn't like the place. It was cold, literally. Made of steel the walls were high and thick, and the whole room was quiet. The walls were lines with pictures of Robotnik and nothing else. There wasn't even a carpet or a light to be seen.

They finally got to the dungeons. Carefully, they looked around then ran to all the cells. Nearly all of them were empty; all the inhabitants had been roboticized. Just looking at the people that WERE in the cells made Sonia want to throw up. Sick, diseased, dying… there was a man who looked like he was melting; his body had been struck by severe radiation.

It just made her sick to think that Robotnik was doing this to humans too and not just Mobians.

Sonic reached a cell and halted. He stared in at a creature huddled in a purple shawl and green dress. His heart stopped. He had seen her before… could it be…

The creature looked up and stared. Sonic could have cried.

"Sonic…?"

"Mom… is that you?" he whispered. "So it wasn't a hoax… omigod, it's really you… are you alright, you look sick and-"

"Shhh… calm down. I'm alright"

Sonic looked at his mother. She looked far from 'alright'. Her eyes were heavy-lidded, her cheeks were flushed and beads of sweat ran down her forehead, as if she had fever.

The blue hedgehog wanted to scream in joy and weep at the same time. At last, he had finally found her… and she was right in front of him!

He wasn't sure if it was a dream. He bit his tongue just to check, and knew it was true when he tasted the copper in his mouth.

"Sonic… you've grown…" Aleena whispered.

"You were watching us?"

"Of course I was, always! Since you were babies I was with you"

"Why did you give us away?"

"It was for your safety… I'll explain later, the guards might catch you"

Sonic remembered something. "Someone said they saw Manic here. Have you seen him?"

Aleena looked pained. "Yes…"

"Where? Where is he? In here?" Sonic asked, his voice rising in excitement. Aleena kept silent.

"Where's your sister? Did she come with you?" she asked suddenly, a note of emergency in her voice.

"Yes, why?"

"Where is she?"

"I don't-"

"Right here" someone said in a smug, tinny, robotic voice. Sonic whirled around fists clenched, ready to attack.

"No, don't!" Aleena cried, grabbing his arm through the bars. Sonic could barely make out the shape of the thing, and when it came closer and he could see it better he almost died of shock.

His sister, lying unconscious; bleeding in the forehead after obviously being hit on the head. In the arms of a metallic green robotic hedgehog.

Manic smirked. "Missed me?"


	2. Alliances

"Manic…" Sonic whispered disbelievingly.

"What's the matter? Don't even recognize your own brother?" Manic asked mockingly.

"Manic, I thought you were…"

"Dead?" Manic asked scornfully.

"What happened…" Sonic asked, taking a step forward. Queen Aleena shouted a warning too late and before he knew it a force hit him in the chest harder and faster than a tornado, slamming him back.

"Don't you dare come towards me," Manic said icily. He scowled down at his blue brother. "You've grown" he said, looking at the hedgehog's lengthened, sharper spines, and longer, more powerful arms and legs. "I haven't grown much… heh, probably not at all."

"After all" he added bitterly. "Robots don't grow"

"Oh god… what did Robotnik do to…"

Manic pressed a button on his arm. A small screen and speaker came out.

"I found him," he said simply. Sonic watched warily, uneasily.

"Manic…" he tried again and stopped as he saw more robots join his brother's side. As they moved into the light his eyes became wide, horrified.

"Bunnie?" he asked, feeling sick. She had fought so hard, but in the end she had become fully roboticized. Her once gentle, sweet grass green eyes now glinted a dark, ominous red. As more robots he recognized joined Manic's side the more sick he felt. Stripes, Antoine, Rotor, Amy Rose…

As the last two appeared he wanted to scream.

_No!_ he shouted in his mind. _No, please…_

"Sally… Tails…" he moaned. The roboticized Sally looked down on him.

"How do you like us now?" she smirked.

"No, no…"

"Disgusting, huh?" Tails said. "What, don't want to look at us anymore? Not good enough for his Majesty?"

"Tails…" Sonic whispered, his eyes brimming with tears. Manic dropped Sonia carelessly onto the floor then walked up to his brother calmly and squatted down so he was face to face with him. Sonic stared at his brother's unreadable eyes, covered behind a protective dark red visor.

"Just thought you'd like to see some of our friends," Manic said. "Say hello"

"What happened…"

Manic's expression was unreadable. "Roboticizer. What else."

"You… you're talking to me"

"No, really?" Manic asked sarcastically.

"Robots are… emotionless"

Manic stared at Sonic then with a movement so fast Sonic couldn't move to deflect it, backhanded him across the face.

"Robots. Is that what you think we are? Mindless drones?" he snarled. 

Realization dawned on Sonic. "So… so you're…"

"It's me" Manic smirked. 

Sonic felt tears pool in his eyes, and behind him he heard small gasps from his mother, crying.

"Why…"

Manic's smirk immediately disappeared.

"Because you gave us to Robotnik" Sally said, standing, arms crossed, behind the squatting Manic.

"What? I didn-"

"Yes you did!" Tails shouted. "You could have saved us! But no, you didn't. Where were you when Robotnik took over Knothole?"

"When Robotnik took over my village?" Stripes asked. "He ruined everything, killed everyone. Where were you then?"

"I-"

"Where were you when Robotnik carried me away?" Manic asked softly. Sonic felt his heart break.

"Running after you," he said quietly. Manic stared at him unblinkingly, eyes hidden by the ruby quartz visor.

"Yet you didn't catch me"

"I was running as fast as I could…"

Manic leaned his face in close. "You should have run faster"

Sonic remembered the feeling he had, that he could have run faster, and he turned his head away. "You survived the wound…"

In an instant, Manic's robotic face twisted with rage and, standing up, he grabbed his brother's neck and slammed his head against the prison bars. Although Sonic was now taller than he was, Manic still managed to hold him so his feet dangled off the ground.

"Better you had left me dead than to give me to Robotnik!" he snarled. He smashed Sonic's head against the bars, once, twice, thrice. Sonic hung limply, pulling weakly at Manic's hands, trying to make him let go.

"Do you have any idea of the torture I've been through? Having to be a slave to HIM? Owing my life to him?"

"I'm… I'm sorry…" Sonic whispered, tears now flowing freely down his face. Manic punched his brother in the face.

"Sorry's not enough!" he yelled. "

"Can't we just kill him?" Sally asked, bored. Sonic's eyes started to close. He couldn't breathe…

Manic looked at him then threw him hard onto the floor. Gasping for air, Sonic rubbed the finger marks his brother had made on his neck. Manic walked over to Sonia and picked her up. He looked at her unconscious face, eyes closed, her peaceful expression marred only by a slight frown at the eyebrows and scowl at the mouth. To Sonic's amazement, an expression of sadness and longing played on the green hedgehog's face before being covered by the usual coldness and hardness. He threw his sister at Sonic, who caught her in his arms.

"Leave" he said. Sonic couldn't believe his ears.

"What?"

"What are you SAYING?" Rotor asked, walking up to Manic. "Let them GO?"

"I say we kill them. Both. And the mother too" Tails said, turning his red eyes onto the blue hedgehog on the floor. Sonic felt his heart break.

"Tails…" he whispered.

Manic whirled around. "I said no!" he said, his voice cold. Facing Sonic again he pointed his arm at him, his hand changing into a laser blaster.

"LEAVE!" he shouted.

Sonic didn't have to hear it again. He was out of the castle in a second, putting the gas masks over his face and Sonia's. Sally looked at Manic in disgust.

"I don't see what Robotnik sees in you. You hate him, when we're all completely loyal. He gave you the best parts, you're his best out of all of us. He gave you the top position, put you in command of all the robots. He did this for you, and you repay him by letting Sonic the Hedgehog go, along with his brat sister. Why?"

Manic didn't answer. He walked away silently.

"You're a traitor Manic Hedgehog, a traitor!" Sally shouted at his retreating form.

Queen Aleena watched quietly.

Sonic wiped cold water onto his sister's head wound. When they had gotten back, he had checked her skull for injuries. Manic had hit her a bit too hard; he had almost cracked through the bone. Blood was matted in the pink hedgehog's hair. He laid her down as gently as he could on her 'bed'; a flat piece of metal just above the water that Sonic had managed to find on one of his runs. It had probably once been used as a coffee table. He ran the piece of fabric he had torn from a piece of Sonia's old clothing in the ice cold water running in the drain by his feet and folded it, placing it neatly on her head. He walked to his bed and sat down.

_Manic…_ he thought. Finally, he had found his brother, after ten years… how he had changed…

He hates me. What am I thinking; of course he hates me. I let Robotnik take him. I could have run faster.

But he's fully healed now… he was about to die and I guess Robotnik saved him… 

He put his head in his hands. _Yeah, sure. He's right, better to die than to have to serve under Robotnik as a mindless robot._

_But he's not a robot… robots don't have feelings… and he let me and Sonia get away, meaning he still feels for us… but then why did he look like he wanted to kill us initially?_

_Oh god… Sally… Tails…_

Hot tears streamed down Sonic's face. _All my friends… taken… roboticized… everyone I love… all roboticized. What the hell did that bastard do to them? So full of hate… we would be dead if not for Manic… they wouldn't hate us that much, would they? Manic… dammit, what did that bastard do to you?_

Sonic jerked his head up as he heard footsteps resounding in the pipes. He brushed his tears away quickly; he didn't want anyone to see him so upset. He watched the entrance to their little hiding space suspiciously, standing in a fighting stance near his sister.

_It better be Lenn or Tigra…_ he thought, watching the entrance warily, his entire body alert, flexed for action. He relaxed as he saw a striped head appear, snowy white fur wet and grayed by the dirt of the outside.

"Tigra" he said, nodding his head. The female white tiger stepped down onto the platform and walked to Sonic. The hedgehog looked at the female white tiger and his eyes widened.

"Tigra… your eye…"

The tigress touched her left eye with a paw and nodded her head.

"What happened?" Sonic asked, concerned, stretching out his hand for her shoulder. She brushed it away irritably.

"Got careless. I got caught by a robot. The damned thing managed to get at my eye before I escaped"

Sonic looked at Tigra's beautiful golden eyes, one now marred by an ugly pink gash and closed.

"Is it…"

"I can't see out of it. I'm blind" Tigra said simply. Sonic felt his temper rise. Tigra was the Freedom Fighters' spy. She was able to go anywhere without being seen, and always seemed to have a constant supply of potions and other supplies. She was a valuable member of the Freedom Fighters, one that Sonic did not want to lose. To have actually been caught by a robot… Sonic clenched his fists.

"Those…"

Tigra raised a paw. "Don't worry about it. I can manage with, or without an eye." She tapped her nose. "Smell. Remember?"

Sonic opened his mouth to argue then closed it. Tigra was way more experienced than he was. After all, she was able to go around Robotropolis, wasn't she?

"So what is it? I have a feeling you didn't come down here just to tell me about your eye, if you can survive without it" Sonic said. 

"I found some Mobians out scouting. Not roboticized. They need a place to stay for a while; one's been running from robots for days and the other's been hiding in a building in a radiated section… not even the robots go there. He's really sick and needs your help. They just need to rest a while and recover. They can help a lot I think, one claims to be a shape shifter, and he's really strong and the other… well, he's unconscious, but he looks like a survivor. He stayed in the radiated sector for quite long, he has to be a survivor"

Sonic glanced back at Sonia. "I don't know… we don't have a lot of space, and my own sister-"

"They're free Mobians. How long do you think they'll survive out there?" Tigra interrupted calmly. Sonic sighed.

"Okay then" he said. He knew Tigra knew what she was talking about. The white tiger walked to the tunnel and reappeared, holding what looked like an echidna in her arms. Sonic stared at it as Tigra laid it gently onto Sonic's bed. She took out a small green vial from the pouch hanging on her waist and took out the cork. Wetting her fingers with it, she wiped the liquid slowly on the creature's lips. It coughed and shuddered, its head and body running with sweat.

Sonic stared at it disbelievingly. It was undoubtedly a male, even though Tigra had wrapped its shoulders with one of her cloaks. His eyelids were swollen, the color of bruises and closed shut tight, ugly purple welts covering his face and light peach snout. His face looked prematurely wrinkled, giving him the appearance of looking older than he really was. There weren't many wrinkles but it was still enough to give Sonic the impression of looking at a forty or older year old creature. Patches of reddish-brown fur was missing from the skin, showing pale pink uncovered flesh. Sonic's eyes wandered down its body.

_That red-brown doesn't look natural… maybe it was an effect of the radiation_, Sonic thought. Looking at the strong, wiry muscles covering his arms and legs Sonic immediately knew that the creature could not have been over at least twenty-five.

The echidna shivered and cried out in pain as Tigra gently dabbed a pale pink liquid onto his eyes. He turned over onto his side, shaking, fists clenched. Sonic's eyes trailed from the arms to the hands, both large with two spikes sticking out from the knuckles…

_Knuckles…_

Sonic stepped back in horror as he realized who the echidna was.

"Knuckles… no… oh god" he covered his mouth and looked away before he threw up. He barely recognized the strong, healthy, proud echidna he had once known and rivaled.

"Oh god… what happened to you Knux…"

"He needs our help. It's alright if he stays here, at least until he heals completely, isn't it?" Tigra asked, gently wiping the beads of sweat off the echidna's trembling head and body.

"Of course it's alright… oh god…"

Tigra untied the cloak around Knuckles' neck and threw it over him to keep him warm. She looked at the pink hedgehog, also lying unconscious and walked over. She inspected the wound, taking the strip of wet clothing off. She took out a tube of lotion from her pouch and started applying it gently to Sonia's wound.

"Oh, where's the other person… you can come in too, you know" Tigra called busily. There was silence then a noise of someone moving slowly. Sonic watched, eyes widening as a large, muscular orange creature hopped uncertainly in. He was speckled brown on the neck, had an ugly, squashed nose and small brown eyes. Long blonde hair ran wild and unruly down his back, but Sonic still recognized him. His mouth twisted into a snarl.

"Dingo" he growled fiercely, crouching into a fighting stance. Dingo looked at him.

"Hi um, Sonic"

"What are you doing here?" Sonic yelled, forgetting to be quiet so the robots wouldn't hear him.

"I let him come down, remember?" Tigra asked irritably. "And be QUIET!"

"Do you even know who he IS? He worked for Robotnik! And you just LED HIM DOWN HERE?" Sonic snapped, staying in his stance, never taking his eyes off the large orange dog.

"I want to help" Dingo said simply. Sonic froze.

"What?"

"He said he wants to help, Sonic" Tigra said, wiping her hands clean.

"Why?" Sonic asked suspiciously.

"Robotnik took away everything I had" Dingo said quietly. "He roboticized Sleet, killed my mom, my sister…"

Sonic frowned and relaxed. "You have a mom? And a sister?"

"I wasn't just 'created'" Dingo said. "Robotnik kidnapped us when I was very small… he killed my dad. I never even knew him"

"Then why did you work for Robotnik?" Sonic asked.

"I had no choice. Robotnik… he locked my mom and sister in the dungeons and took me to experiment with. That's why I can shape shift… he promised me that if I worked for him then he would release my mother and sister."

His voice dropped low. "He killed them." He looked at Sonic. "I understand if you don't believe me, but I really can help. I WANT to help. I… I don't have anything… else" he looked away.

"How did you escape?" Sonic asked curiously. Dingo looked at the blue hedgehog and grinned defiantly, an expression that Sonic had never seen on the dog before.

"I morphed into a bug and flew out" he said proudly. Sonic couldn't help feeling slightly impressed. Dingo managed to escape? By himself?

"I'm not that stupid" Dingo said quietly, reading Sonic's expression. "I just did whatever Sleet told me. It doesn't mean I'm stupid"

Sonic didn't say anything for a while. "Did you know that Robotnik took my brother?" he asked after a long silence.

"Yes" Dingo said softly.

"He roboticized him" 

"Yes"

"You helped him. Watched as my brother was thrown into the roboticizer"

Dingo looked guilty. "Yes… but-"

"So why should I let you just join us? Why should I trust you?"

"Because I can help. I can change shape into anything you want. I know a few passageways into Robotnik's castle that he may not have found yet"

Sonic looked at him suspiciously then glanced at Tigra, who nodded. Sonic sighed. He trusted Tigra and he knew Tigra was right about stuff most of the time, but…

"All right. But do anything-"

"I won't" Dingo promised. "All I want is to help… as long as I can have some shelter"

Sonic didn't reply. He walked to his sister and brushed back her hair gently.

"Your brother… wasn't roboticized against his will" Dingo said quietly. Sonic whirled around.

"What?"

"He wasn't roboticized against his will" Dingo repeated. In the next second he found himself on the floor.

"How dare you say that! Are you saying he WANTED to be roboticized? You liar!" Sonic shouted. Dingo sat up slowly, not wanting to provoke the irate hedgehog any more.

"I just thought you would want to know" he said quietly. "Robotnik didn't put him in by force"

"He was injured, he could barely move. Of course he didn't put up any resistance, I mean god, he should have DIED on the way there!" the hedgehog shouted, finding to his anger tears rising to his eyes again at the mention of his brother.

"Sonic, calm down" Tigra ordered and Sonic calmed. Dingo got up.

"I won't say anymore if you don't want me to" he said. Sonic stared down at him with pure hatred and loathing in his eyes then turned and walked away to look after his sister.

A/N: I'll try make the next chapter longer, promise… please review!


	3. Flashback

A/N: Mannnn this chapter is long. Took long for me to write too; I hope the length of this chapter makes up for that. Sorry if it's repetitive, but I'm trying to emphasize how much Manic was tortured in between the time he was caught to the time he was roboticized. Hopefully you'll understand why he chose to be roboticized; if you don't, I am SO gonna kill myself.

I was kinda surprised that no one commented on me mutating poor Knuckles like that… but oh well. 

This chapter is explaining what happened in between the time Manic was captured and up to the time he was roboticized. I reckon it needed explaining, at some point.

Disclaimer: Sonic and all other related characters belong to Sega… I think.

As Manic opened his eyes he was immediately blinded by a light overhead. Panicked, he tried to sit up then realized his arms and legs were chained to… to whatever he was on. He turned his head and looked. He was sitting on a cold metal pallet, arms and legs pinned down by strips of titanium so that he lay spread-eagled.

"You're awake. Feeling better?" a voice boomed around the room. Manic tried to lift his head and realized his neck was chained down as well as his arms and legs.

_Robotnik_, his mind said instantly.

Manic didn't answer, a snarl coming over his face. He tried to move and, finding the bonds to be too strong, struggled and strained, finding it difficult to lean up when his neck itself was being held down. Every time he moved up, the bonds pressed against his windpipe, making it difficult for him to breathe.

"Aren't you even going to thank me?" the voice asked again.

"Thank you? What the hell for?" Manic spat furiously, finding to his irritation that he couldn't break the bonds.

_My amulet!_ he thought suddenly, panicked. Trying to look down at himself, he couldn't quite see whether he was still wearing it or not.

Robotnik's voice cackled over the microphone. "For saving your life! Or have you not noticed that you're not dead?"

_Dead…?_

Memories came flooding back. Robots… a fight… he was injured… his lung… Robotnik carrying him away… Sonic running after…

_Sonic!_

"What did you do to my brother and sister you sick bastard?" Manic shouted, seeing Robotnik's face past a thick window panel. 

"DO?" Robotnik asked. "I did nothing"

"You LIAR!" Manic struggled furiously against his bonds.

"Is that how you thank someone who saved your life? Call him a bastard and a liar?"

"I'd rather go to HELL than be saved by someone like you" the green hedgehog spat.

"Aw, now you've hurt my feelings" Robotnik said tauntingly. "And such a mouth… tut tut now. Didn't your mother teach you any manners?"

"Don't you dare talk about my mother!" the normally levelheaded Manic exploded.

"Who? You mean Queen Aleena?" Robotnik made a chuckling sound. "That slut"

"Shut up!" Manic shouted.

"You know what she was before she became Queen? Nothing. She was a nobody, just a prostituting whore" Robotnik cackled. "Lucky break for her when daddy dearest came along then, huh?"

"Your parents were both like that," Robotnik whispered into the microphone, loud enough for Manic to hear. "Your mother was a whore. Your father… he went to whorehouses. You know how many women claimed that he was the father of their children? Guess it was just a lucky stroke that your father picked your mother"

"Shut up shut up shut up!" Manic screamed, rocking on the pallet violently. He wanted to cover his ears, scream, anything to block out HIS grating, tormenting voice.

"What? Don't like what you hear?" Robotnik taunted, his voice rebounding around the cold, ice white room. "You know, Manic Hedgehog, you ARE quite the freak. Your mother was purple; your father was blue. Pink fur came from your mother's side. You were the freak, the GREEN one. You were the misfit"

"Shut up…" Manic whispered, tears springing to his eyes.

"Ever wondered why your siblings got sent to such nice homes and you didn't? Because your mother didn't want you. Because you weren't one of them. Because you, and your green fur showed to the world that your precious MOTHER wasn't as she seemed. She was a prostitute. It's impossible that your genes came from either your mother or father, can't you see that? She wanted to get rid of you. But no, you had to come bouncing back" Robotnik said, lying. But Manic didn't know that.

"Shut up Robotnik! I am not a freak, I'm NOT!" Manic shouted.

"My, isn't SOMEONE in denial" Robotnik smirked. Manic suddenly noticed that his breathing didn't feel quite… right. Not quite as… syncopated as it should be.

"What did you do to me" he asked quietly.

"I fixed your lung" Robotnik said with an air of pride.

"I… my breathing…"

Robotnik made a 'heh' sound. "Robots. Go figure.  You tell them to perform a SIMPLE operation and they bungle it up. Good help is SO hard to find"

Manic bit down his retort that the 'good help' was so lousy because it was Robotnik who had built them. "What did you do" he asked, more as a statement than a question.

"Simple mechanics" Robotnik said.

"My lung is… mechanical?"

"Yes. You are now breathing… artificially, shall we say?"

"Artificially…" Manic said woozily. "I… I should be dead"

"Oh bravo" Robotnik said sarcastically. "Did you figure that out by yourself?"

"What metal?" Manic asked.

"What?"

"Metal. Repair my lung. Which" Manic asked.

Robotnik paused for an instant and Manic thought he had left. "Low carbon steel" he answered after a while.

"Steel," Manic said quietly. "That will kill me"

"No it-"

"Don't try lie to me Robotnik. Steel. Ferrous, meaning it has iron content. Iron rusts. Steel rusts. Lung. Oxygen. Water Steel rusts in oxygen and water" Manic looked at Robotnik's brooding face in the window. "The rust will circulate around my body in my blood. And I will die"

Robotnik frowned then chuckled. "I have to give you credit hedgehog, you're not as stupid as you look. And considering your heritage…"

"What do you want with me?" Manic asked quietly, interrupting him. "You 'heal' me by making me an artificial lung of materials that will kill me. I know you; you didn't just heal me to kill me again, not this way. You would have left me bleeding and tortured me to death. You wouldn't roboticize me, not the 'spawn of Aleena'."

When there was no reply Manic glanced at the window panel to see that Robotnik had left.

A long while later Manic turned his head at the sound of the door. His eyes stung and tears sprung every time he blinked from being forced to stare into the bright light for lack of another place to look at and his whole body ached from being stretched into such an uncomfortable position. He had tried to close his eyes and perhaps sleep, but the light pierced right through his eyelids.

There were some clicking noises and Manic felt something loosen around his foot. He swiveled his ankle. It was moving!

He kicked out experimentally.

"Don't move another muscle hedgehog. Robotnik told me to shoot you if you put up any resistance" Manic heard a voice hiss. As someone moved to work on his other ankle he caught a glimpse of a hulking orange body and blonde hair as it bent down.

_Dingo._

Meaning that the other person…

_Sleet. Holding a laser gun, probably aimed at my heart. He always did seem to like the thought of innards bursting everywhere._

For some reason that he didn't know Manic found that quite amusing. He almost retched smelling the putrid stench of the orange dog as he leaned over his face to try and undo the bond around his neck, fumbling with the keys.

"Hey hurry up dog breath otherwise I won't NEED your friend to go and blast me to death" Manic said. He wanted to move so badly, wanted to leap up and scream, but he knew his neck was still tied down plus Sleet's gun was probably still aimed at his heart. There was a click and Manic let out a small sigh as the tight band around his neck fell away.

"Sit up" Sleet ordered. Manic did as told, bright spots clouding his vision. When the room darkened again he saw that Sleet did in fact have a gun aimed at his chest.

_How'd I guess_, he thought dryly. Sleet motioned with his handheld laser gun to Dingo and Manic felt his throat being grabbed roughly from behind. He made a choking sound.

"Shut up" Sleet commanded. Dingo connected the titanium band together and walked to Sleet, who took out a remote control and pressed a small green button. There was a beep and Manic noticed a red light on the neckband go on. Sleet relaxed his hold on the gun.

"You can move now. But one wrong move…" he hovered his thumb over the control. "And say goodbye to your head"

_Couldn't just be content with the heart, ohhhh no, now it's the head too_, Manic quipped to himself wryly. He had no idea why he seemed to be making so many jokes. As far as he was concerned, this was nowhere NEAR a funny situation.

Manic felt something lie, cold and hard, on his chest. He looked down. It was his drum shaped amulet. He was surprised that Robotnik hadn't stripped him of it and burnt it to metal waste. To be safe, he quickly took it off, making sure that Sleet and Dingo didn't see what he was doing –they were walking towards the door- and pocketed it. He felt his neck and the neckband around it. His neck felt sore, the skin a bit torn from the roughness of the bonds. Luckily enough though, the neckband was relatively loose, though not loose enough for him to slip his head through. He fingered the band tentatively.

_Should be quite easy to pick…_ his hand went instinctively to his waist, then discovered that although Robotnik had not taken his amulet he HAD removed his pouches.

_Dammit…_ Manic swore, knowing that even if he had his materials Sleet and Dingo would probably see him, and it was much too risky trying to pick something that he couldn't see.

Especially when it could easily blow his head off if he made one wrong move.

"Come" Sleet commanded. Manic considered disobeying then decided against it. Better not to take a risk.

Sleet smirked triumphantly at him as he walked past. Manic scowled and stood straight, head high like the every inch of royalty he was, trying to keep some of his pride intact. Before he knew it there was a sharp pain in his back and he was on the floor.

"Arrogant little thing, aren't you? Not so good without your precious siblings here to help you though, are you?" Sleet sneered, Dingo grinning beside him. Manic rolled onto his back.

_I won't say anything. I will NOT let them succeed._

He put his palms on the floor and shifted his weight to the balls of his feet, slowly getting up. Sleet glanced at Dingo. Manic felt Dingo's boot rest gently on his forehead before giving him a hard shove backwards, sending him sprawling on the floor again.

"Come on, get up then" Sleet challenged. Manic wanted to scream. How dare they do that to him? If only he didn't have that stupid collar around his neck, then he'd show them…

He half expected Sonic and Sonia to come crashing in at any point. They always turned up at these sorts of moments.

_And then everything will be fine, completely fine… we'll show these morons, and everything will be okay…_

They didn't come. Glaring at his tormentor Manic tried to get up again. He kneeled on one leg, his other foot flat on the floor. He put his hands on his risen knee and struggled to rise. Dingo put a large hand on his head and pushed down. Manic leaned heavily on his knee, Dingo's weight adding to it and tried to push himself up but Dingo's weight and strength helped him push the green hedgehog down easily. A hot wave of anger and humiliation rose through Manic, flowing to every pore of his body, crackling around him in an aura of lightning. His cheeks flushed furiously, but he refused to give up. His pride wouldn't let him.

Then Sleet started laughing.

Something in the hedgehog snapped.

Manic slipped his knee down, making Dingo suddenly jerk forward because of how he was leaning on him. Slapping his palms flat on the floor he swung his legs around in a low kick, tripping over the large dog, a mid-defensive attack he had learnt from his sister. Dingo fell straight onto his face with an 'oof!' Using his hands again, Manic pushed himself so he flipped forward onto his feet. He lunged forward, fist flying forward at Sleet's face…

And froze just an inch before impact as the wolf smirked, his finger wavering dangerously close to a red button on the control.

"Do you REALLY want to be blown up THAT badly?" Sleet taunted. Manic's face contorted into a snarl, but he reluctantly relaxed his hand.

"Ow! Sleet, that hurt" Dingo whined.

"Pity your brother isn't here, isn't it?" Sleet taunted, ignoring his friend. "Sonic the hedgehog. You know, you probably wouldn't still be here if he had come along by now"

Sleet looked around in mock surprise. "But wait… he's not here. And why would that be?"

Manic looked away, refusing to reply.

"Because he doesn't care about you," Sleet answered himself sneeringly. "Obviously. He would have come CHARGING in by now if he did."

Sleet snickered. "Some 'siblings'. Always sticking together, such a perfect family… living in your naïve little world, thinking that everything would be just fine as long as you stuck together, you and him and her. Obviously not though, seeing as how they don't care about you"

Manic frowned.

"You don't believe me!" Sleet said disbelievingly. "Think about it hedgehog, THINK! You know your brother and your sister. They would DIE for you, right? If so, then why aren't they here right now? If your sister were in your position, wouldn't you and Sonic have saved her by now?"

Manic didn't want to listen, but somehow, it seemed… right.

_No. No, Sonic was injured, so was Sonia. That's why they're not here._

"Didn't you see how he ran when you were being taken? He could have run much faster than that, and you know it. Why didn't he run fast enough though, if he could have? He wanted you to die. He thought Robotnik was going to kill you, and so he left you to die"

_No._

"Yeah" Dingo chimed in. "And if it weren't for that Sonia you wouldn't 'ave even gotten into this in the first place, right, Sleet?"

"If she hadn't been caught by that robot you wouldn't have gotten shot" Sleet said.

"It wasn't her fault" Manic said for the first time.

"Oh yes it was. She was clumsy, and she got caught, but YOU had to pay the price"

"She probably could've gotten out by herself," Dingo said. Sleet smirked.

"Yes, she could, and Sonic knew that, but he still went to her first. He doesn't care about you," he said.

"That's a lie," Manic said, his voice shaking.

"Is it?" Sleet asked. "Is it really?"

Manic had nothing to say to that.

Sleet and Dingo led the green hedgehog to a dark room. Manic saw Robotnik sitting in a chair, deep in thought.

"We brought him boss" Sleet reported.

"Excellent, excellent" Robotnik said, swiveling to face them.

"What do you want with me," Manic asked, his voice soft and low. Robotnik stayed silent a while, contemplating his answer before he spoke.

"I have to give you credit. I thought you despised robotics. I never thought you'd know about metals and their qualities"

"You didn't force me here just to tell me that," Manic stated. "Why don't you just get to the point?"

"How did you know about metals?" Robotnik asked. Manic stayed silent, not wanting to reveal anything.

"You were brought up by that thief, weren't you… what was his name? Farrell?" Robotnik asked suddenly. Manic started at the name.

_Farrell…_ he remembered the creature with a painful ache in his heart. The one who had brought him up and taught him the skills he knew now since he was just a baby. Farrell had been a thief and had therefore obviously passed his knowledge of lock picking, pick pocketing, disguise, hacking and mechanics. Manic had picked up on it like a pro, to Farrell's great delight. 

The green hedgehog missed Farrell. Sure, he was a thief, but he wasn't a BAD one. He brought Manic up like a relatively normal child, letting him play and do things that ordinary children did. He hadn't tried to indoctrinate a sense of duty and stiff obedience and discipline into the hedgehog as others may have thought. Manic had admired Farrell, ever since he had gotten old enough to understand the word. Farrell, who seemed to know all the answers to the world; laid-back, kind, caring Farrell. He could be gentle and harsh at the same time, honest and sly at the same time.

Robotnik smirked at the expression on Manic's face. "Ah yes. The master thief"

He looked at Manic eye to eye, a serious expression on his face. "He probably would still be with you if not for your brother and sister"

Manic remembered that day clearly. He had often had nightmares about it. Hearing the most beautiful music in the world, going to see what it was, telling Farrell he would be right back… then returning to find Farrell, roboticized and gone. He didn't remember ever feeling more lost than he had at that moment. Manic clenched his fists.

"Thanks to you. You roboticized him" Manic said, feeling his temper rise.

"Would you like to see him again?" Robotnik asked, his voice surprisingly soft. Manic started.

"What? Farrell? See him again?"

Robotnik nodded, his face deadly serious. Manic frowned at him.

"What's the catch?" he asked suspiciously.

"No catch. You see him for five minutes, then he leaves"

Manic scowled at his, still distrusting. "Do… do I have your word?" he asked.

"Yes" Robotnik said solemnly. Manic looked to one side then nodded slightly. Robotnik lifted a small panel on the immense keyboard behind him and pressed a button.

"Come, one-sixty-two" he said. Manic stood frozen to the spot, looking tensely at the door. He wasn't quite sure what to do. If Robotnik was telling the truth, he would see Farrell again… finally. If he wasn't… but he gave his word, and Robotnik was many things, but he didn't break his promises.

Much.

There was a 'shoom' as the mechanicals doors slid open. A robot walked in and Manic's heart constricted.

"How may I serve you?" Farrell asked, his voice tinny and mechanical. Manic forgot completely about Robotnik, Sleet and Dingo.

"Farrell!" he yelled joyously, flinging himself onto the robot's neck. Sleet raised the control. Robotnik gestured by holding his hand out and lowering it slowly, and Sleet obeyed. The three watched silently.

"Oh man, you don't know how much I've missed you, I've got so much to say and tell you…" Manic cried, holding tightly onto the robot's neck. It didn't respond. Manic let go and looked at it.

"Farrell?" he asked, half laughing half crying with joy. Farrell's head stiffly turned to look at the hedgehog.

"Target sighted. Destroy" it said simply, lifting its arm to point it at Manic's face, guns coming out of the back of its forearm.

"Wh- what? Farrell! It's me… Manic! Remember?"

"Destroy" it repeated.

"No" Robotnik commanded, his voice low and clear. The Farrell-robot complied and lowered its hand.

"Don't you remember me?" Manic asked shakily, eyes pooling with tears. Farrell stared at the hedgehog expressionlessly, as if it didn't know what else to do.

"Farrell… it's me… Manic… remember? The kid you took in? I… I was just a baby. You taught me everything I know now… don't you remember?"

The robot continued staring.

"Stealing food? The picnics? The jewel robbery? You didn't want me to come, but I did, and I almost got you killed…" Manic trailed off, staring helplessly at the emotionless automaton in front of him. It looked so much like Farrell. It had to be him… but it couldn't be. Farrell would never have forgotten the picnic. They had sneaked into a mansion and stolen food, then had almost gotten caught by the guards and had had to dress up as women to escape. Farrell would never have forgotten it, never. And they had eaten like kings afterwards.

Nor would he have forgotten the 'jewel heist', as he himself had dubbed it. Manic had almost gotten them both killed, and when they were both safely back home Farrell had almost killed Manic himself.

"Oh god… don't you remember ANYTHING…" Manic said, tears leaving salt trails down his cheeks. He moved forward and wrapped his arms around the robot's cold steel body, just holding him. The robot stood as if frozen to the spot, not moving at all.

The old Farrell, the one Manic knew and had grown to admire and love would not have just stood there. He would have wriggled out the embrace uncomfortably, joking and laughing about Manic being 'too sentimental'.

It almost broke Manic's heart, to know that finally, he had Farrell again… but he didn't remember, even recognize him.

"What happened to you…" he whispered. Robotnik looked at the time on the computer screen.

"Time's up" he announced. "You may return now, one-sixty-two"

Stiffly, Farrell turned and walked to and out of the door, walking easily out of Manic's weak grasp. Dingo wiped a tear from his eye.

"Aw, how touching" he said. Manic whirled around angrily.

"You lied to me! You said there were no catches!" he said accusingly.

"I said there were no catches. I didn't say anything about him still remembering you. It wasn't a trap, was it?"

"What the HELL did you do to him?" Manic shouted furiously.

"Roboticized him" Robotnik shrugged. "He was one of my older ones. Nowadays, I can make robots that retain their older feelings. At the time your darling Farrell was roboticized, they became loyal to me immediately, with no feeling towards anything else"

"Change him then, dammit!" Manic yelled, fresh hot tears of rage and loss springing to his eyes.

"Too dangerous. I could end up killing him" Robotnik said. He shook his head. "A pity really. He could be very useful to me, him with such an expert knowledge of mechanics"

"Why did you do it?" Manic asked, his voice shaking. "Why did you have to roboticize him? He was one of the best people I've ever known… why did you have to roboticize him?"

Robotnik shrugged carelessly. "I had just updated my roboticizing technology. I had to test it on SOMEONE"

"Why him… you uncaring bastard…" Manic bit his lower lip to try and stop the tears. He clenched his fists tightly and looked away so they wouldn't see, his whole body shaking on the spot.

"It wouldn't have happened if it wasn't for you siblings you know" Robotnik said matter-of-factly. "If you had never met them you never would have left Farrell alone"

"You roboticized him," Manic said, choking on emotions swarming to explode out of this throat.

"They made you leave him"

"You roboticized him," Manic repeated, refusing to listen to anything Robotnik said against his siblings.

"And what did they do about it? Nothing. Remember what your sister said, right after you had joined? 'I'm all alone'. You had to comfort her then, didn't you? And then after her, Sonic. He tried to hide it, but it came out eventually. Did anyone care about you? What you felt?"

There was a part of Manic that told him it was true.

"And now where are they?" Robotnik let out a loud, derisive 'hah'. "Not here, when you most need them"

"You're stopping them" Manic said. Robotnik arched an eyebrow.

"Alright then. I'll be fair, shall I?" he said. He turned in his chair and typed in something on the keyboard. On the screen Manic could see the front door of Robotnik's fortress, all the robots turning and walking in, leaving it unguarded. Manic stared disbelievingly.

"It's not guarded now," Robotnik said. "All that's left are traps that I've set up, of course. Can't let them get in THAT easily"

"Why are you doing this?" Manic asked carefully.

"I just want to show you the truth," Robotnik said. He looked at the computer screen. "If they really cared, they would be able to break through, wouldn't they?"

"You injured Sonia"

"Ah-ah. I did no such thing. Your brother did that, creating that tornado. And since when has something like that stopped him? If you were dying of disease and Sonia was here in your position right now, would Sonic be looking after you, or tearing across the country looking for HER?"

Manic didn't say anything.

"Why are you even doing this? What's the point? They save me, sure, but I'm still going to die" Manic said. Robotnik regarded the green hedgehog.

"I can save you. You can live" Robotnik said eventually.

"What?" Manic couldn't believe his ears. Was this actually Robotnik? It was so unlike him…

"You won't have to die" Robotnik repeated.

"What do you want in return?" Manic asked warily.

"Nothing"

"Yeah, right"

Robotnik glared at the hedgehog. 

"Okay, HOW would you save me then?" Manic asked.

"Roboticization"

There was an obvious silence.

"Ohhh no. No way. You're mad" Manic laughed scornfully. "As if I'd choose roboticization!"

"It would save your life" Robotnik said, surprisingly enough not offended. "And it's painfully obvious that your brother and sister aren't coming to help you. You know I'm not going to just let you walk out of here"

"They'll come" Manic said.

"You'll be stronger. Faster. And you'll still keep your memories"

"No 'brainwashing'?" Manic asked, intrigued. Mechanics had always intrigued him, and though he had never told anyone, he had had a secret interest in robots.

"No brainwashing"

"What's the catch," Manic asked curiously. "I know you're not trying to make me into some sort of ultra powerful robot just to be nice"

"You work for me. No contact with your siblings, or any of the Freedom Fighters"

Manic laughed. "You're nuts if you think I'd let myself get roboticized for that"

"You would live" Robotnik reminded.

"I'd rather die," Manic spat. Robotnik shrugged.

"Have it as you wish," he said, turning in his chair the face the computer, making a small gesture at Sleet and Dingo. Manic stood, not quite knowing what to do, staring at the door. There were no robots outside. Robotnik hadn't lied; it would be child's play to get in. Manic could have just strolled in easily himself. He could have ran out too, except he wasn't quite sure whether Robotnik wanted him alive or not. Sleet still had the control, after all.

It was only a matter of waiting, then.

Manic was suddenly grabbed roughly from behind and lifted off the ground.

"Hey! What…" Manic struggled against Dingo's grip, seeing the dog's muscular orange arms gripping his sides. He felt embarrassed, realizing not for the first time that day how weak he really was without his amulet.

"Put me down!" Manic kicked and struggled, but to no avail. Dingo carried the green hedgehog to a door and threw him in, slamming the door behind. Sleet glanced at Robotnik to see if he had any more orders. The rotund man sat in his chair, frowning thoughtfully at the computer screen. Then his mouth quirked up into a smile that sent shivers down the gray wolf's spine.

"I did ask" he said and pressed a button, then started laughing as a 'pshhhh' noise entered the room, accompanied with banging, shouting and coughing.

The first thought that went into Manic's head was _this is it. I'm gonna die._

The second thought was _I'm not dead_.

Surprised, he relaxed his fist and lowered it from the door. When he had first heard the gas he had instinctively dropped down low to the ground. It was a light sky blue and semi-transparent, and had spread quickly around the room. Manic had started banging frantically on the door and shouting for them to let him out while trying not to breathe any of the gas in, so sure that Robotnik was trying to kill him. He took his hand away from his nose and mouth. The air was surprisingly cool, pleasantly so in fact, and smelt of fresh mint. Manic looked around suspiciously, not taking in too much air just in case. It was too unlike Robotnik to…

"AHHHHHHH!" he screamed, falling to the floor. 

_My head!_

It felt like it was going to explode. Thousands of voices shouted at the same time, demanding to be heard. Memories flashed in front of his eyes, some of them he was certain weren't even his. Faces zoomed past him, swirled around him, ones he didn't know and ones he did.

"Go away…" he moaned, closing his eyes shut. Faces jeered at him, laughed at him, their voices mingling, getting higher and higher, louder, louder…

"Manic"

The voices dimmed and Manic dared to open his eyes. 

"Sonic… Sonia…" he said, relieved. The pink hedgehog looked coldly down on him.

"You're a disgrace," she said.

"Wh… what?"

"You're a disgrace," Sonic said. "A disgrace to us. Sewer scum"

"You were always different. You never fitted in" Sonia sneered. "You have no idea how many times we tried to get rid of you"

"But you kept coming back" Sonic said.

"Look at you. Green fur. How could you possibly be related to any of us?"

"Freak"

_They're not real. They're not real_, Manic thought to himself. Almost as if in response, Sonic walked up to him and punched him hard in the face. Manic flew back and sprawled onto the floor.

"'Real' enough for you?" the cobalt hedgehog sneered.

"You're a lame excuse of a hedgehog. You shouldn't even have been born. You were a mistake. Mother tried to get rid of you, but you just HAD to come back" the pink hedgehog said, walking up to her green brother.

"Go away! You're not real!" Manic burst at the two. They shimmered and, to Manic's surprise, disappeared. The hedgehog stood in the room, breathing hard and sweating. He felt something on his shoulder and looked up.

"Farrell…" his eyes filled with tears at his old mentor. Unroboticized.

"You disappoint me Manic," the creature said sternly. 

"You're not…"

"Not roboticized," Farrell said, his tone bitter. "See what I've become? I'm a slave to Robotnik now. And why? Because you went off for your brother and sister"

Manic remained silent and Farrell continued.

"We could have still stayed together. We were such a good team. You had so much potential… and now you're wasting it all. On what? On two creatures that don't even appreciate you for who you are. They only use you because you're so skilled. They hate you otherwise; that much is obvious. You could have stayed with me. We could still be together. Instead of me working for ROBOTNIK!" Farrell spat out the last word angrily like it were a germ.

"I'm sorry" Manic whispered. Farrell's face softened.

"It's alright, it's not your fault. It's THEIR fault. They split us apart. They ruined it all"

"They're my siblings"

"Some siblings!" Farrell shouted. "If they were so great, why aren't they here? Why haven't you been rescued? Why were you even KIDNAPPED in the first place? If your brother was so fast he would have been able to save you, wouldn't he?"

Manic sank to the floor and huddled his knees up to his chest. He buried his head and looked down at the floor.

"Wouldn't he?" Farrell asked, louder and more demanding.

There was a long silence. Manic's body started to shake as the long held back tears spilled from his eyes. Outside, Robotnik turned off the gas and the sky blue started to dissipate in the room.

"Should we go get him boss?" Sleet asked. Robotnik held his chin in his hand, stroking his moustache thoughtfully. He held up a hand as Dingo went forward to open the door.

"No. Leave him. Let him come to us" he said, watching.

As the proud, defiant emerald prince finally cried.

Manic walked into the room.

"Ah, you're back" Robotnik said.

"Enjoyed it, didn't you" Manic spat. Robotnik quirked an eyebrow.

"Quite. So what's your decision?"

Manic looked down.

"Life… or death?" Robotnik asked, his voice deadly calm. When the hedgehog looked up at him his heart leapt, thrilled. The man had never seen deader, icier and dark eyes, never. It half scared him.

"Life"

"The process will hurt, but after that you'll be fine. I'm equipping you with the best that I have, and-"

"Just start the thing" Manic said wearily. Robotnik pressed a button and the large machine door shifted open. Manic hesitated.

"What guarantee do I have that you won't kill me in the machine?" he asked.

"Why would I waste my materials like that?" Robotnik asked scornfully. Manic looked at him warily then walked to the machine. As he approached it he watched Robotnik carefully until he was sure that the man wasn't watching him; too busy typing into the computer. Then, quickly, he ripped his pendant off his neck and threw it under the machine.

Just in case.

Then he stepped in.

Through the glass he could see Robotnik punch in the final commands then step back to watch. Metal bonds came out of the machine and strapped him tight so he couldn't struggle, and in that instant he felt a flash of panic.

Live or die… Robotnik's words came back to him.

_This is what I want_, he thought firmly. A pale green gas filled the machine and he shuddered.

_This is it. It's finally happening._

_This is what I want._

Fire suddenly burst up. Manic burned. He screamed in the pain, and in that instant thought he was going to die. Then the fire disappeared, and it was almost worse. Before, it had been a numb pain. Now… every pore was burning, scarred, scorched. The gas came back and his skin felt better.

_This is what I want._

The metal flew down to his body from the top and bottom, swirling like a silver liquid, flowing smoothly around his body, covering him in a shiny silver armor.

_This is what I want._

The metal bound tighter, touching his already burnt skin. The now rough texture made it harder for the metal to slip about. Manic almost fainted from the pain.

_This is what I want._

Tiny wires came out from the metal, attaching itself into his skin. Tiny needles, everywhere, piercing, probing.

_This is what I want._

The liquid metal rose over his head and a new wave of pain instantly hit him. 

_This… is what… I want…_

Flashes of him and his siblings raced through his mind; them playing their music, then escaping Robotnik, them relaxing and laughing as Sonic stuffed three chilli dogs in his mouth…

A single tear rolled down his face.

And he screamed.


End file.
